Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-23
STAGE EFFECTS.
Means by Which the Most Realistic Are
Produced-The Stage CarpepteEg
His Easy limitations
OF All Natural Phenomena-Moonlig
lightning, Fire scenes and Other Phases
of The Mimic World.
Buffalo Commercial Advertiser.

"MoOnlight now is made through a
piece of silk in the drop and gas or cal
cum light is used. In old times cheese
boxes were utilized, but now the drums
sre made of tin. Formerly for lightning
lycopodium torch was used, but now a
magnesium blowpipe is employed. The
best way to make rain is to take a box
somewhat larger than cheese box and
use peas and gravel. The bottom of the
box is sheet iron, while the sides are
of wood. The old way to make
wind WAS to tie together two
shingles and sling them around
your bead, but that was changed because
SO many people got hit on the jaw. Now
we use spinning wheel with q humming
top, which appliance can be worked with
the foot. 1 used this kind of wind IN the
production Of Ranch Ten The old snow
box with's sieve has gone out of date, and
now we use bag with perforstions on
one side. II is tossed about by strings so
that perfect effect is made. The smoke
box is yet in use and it would be difficult
to improve it much. You have seen the
effect of snow blowing in at door, sup
pose. A man comes in out of the storm,
throws the snow off his hat and brushes
it off his shoulders and out of his beard,
if he has one. OF course the personal
fleet is made with salt, but the storm
itself is famed in by the use of big hoop
covered with paper. The effect of bring
ing locomotive up to the wings is
very good one when it is worked proper
ly. The loDg-distance whistle for brakes
is done on small bottle, one that will
hold gill or two. The other appliances
are two blocks faced with sandpaper,
an egg beater and dishpan and
snare drum. The rubbing of the
sandpsper makes the escaping steam, the
rolling of the eggbeater in the pan makes
the rumblirg of the wheels and the drum
produces the general noise or effect.
When the train draws near q Calcium
light is flashed across the stage, andatA
the same time all the noises are worked
as well as the bssedrum, the crashboxil9
and the more general noise there is tn
better the effect. In Slowing up diminfsh
the sounds until full stop is reached,
when only the escape of steam is wanted,
but 1t must then be continuous.
SIN fire scene we use alcohol, cotton,
red fire and lycopodium. A fire scene
L
had blow2ipe torch under the stage and
back had big swinging torch that
would hold about quart. I have worked
four torches alone and blowpipe in my
mouth. The stockade always fell to
pieces and showed the burning house.
For an explosion at sea-or any where else,
for that matter-I use charcoal, steel FL
ings and gunpowder. The powder pro-
duces the shower of sparks. |
Then we have a battery |
Of eight gun barrels fastened to log |
which have to be fred. It is very |
easy to DO, but you have to work it right |
Or the effect is spoiled. To represent |
trotting horse at q distance we use cob
ble-stones covered with cloth, under !
meat-cnopping machine. The old way
was to knock stones on block, but it
was not so good and had to
be worked by an experienced man.
The new method is great effect and